EBUWA DRAWS NOLLYWOOD STARS TO BENIN

The historic city of Benin City, the Edo State capital, was alive up last week when top stars of the Nigerian home video industry converged on it to honour the unveiling of Ebuwa, an Edo language film.

The premiere of the film that was produced and directed by Lancelot Imasuen, a leading figure in the Nigerian home movie industry, popularly called Nollywood, was performed at the Oba Akenzua Cultural Centre.

The Saturday event, which was very colourful, paraded numerous film stars in Nigeria, led by Richard Mofe-Damijo. The Deputy Governor of Edo State, Mr. Lucky Imasuen, was the special guest.

The stars were paraded on a red carpet in the open, where they were exposed to the klieglights with thousands of their fans watching them. The actors included Chinwetalu Agu, Francis Duru, Oge Okoye, Jennifer Ejiogu, Enebeli Elebuwa, Don Pedro-Obaseki, Sam Dede and Steve Eboh.

The hall was thrown open to members of the public on Sunday, where the ordinary people paid N1,000 each to watch the film.

Ebuwa is the chilling story of Edo girls who, out of greed, deliberately go to or are tricked into Europe for prostitution in the hope of becoming very rich.

The story ends tragically for most of the victims, and a message is sent to other young women hoping to hop into Europe for prostitution to watch it.